The Latest: Iraqi forces in Mosul fight face suicide bombers

BAGHDAD – The Latest on the offensive by Iraqi forces and their allies to recapture the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group (all times local):

12:15 p.m.

Iraqi special forces say they have fired a rocket to destroy an explosives-laden vehicle that sped out of a more central neighborhood of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul.

Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil says the attacker came from the Samah neighborhood of the city, attempting to blow himself up among troops positioned in the Gogjali neighborhood.

Thursday's attack came as a major offensive by Iraqi forces and their allies to retake Mosul from IS militants is now in its third week.

Fadhil says a second vehicle that emerged from the same area, presumably another suicide car bomber, managed to get away. He says Islamic State fighters are also using explosives-laden drone aircraft, deploying two since the previous night, both of which had been destroyed.

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8:30 a.m.

A U.S. organization that monitors militant activity online says the leader of the Islamic State group has released a new message encouraging his followers to keep up the fight for the IS-held city of Mosul in Iraq.

The SITE Intelligence Group says the speech purporting to be from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was released in an audio recording, more than a half hour long, late on Wednesday.

In the recording, al-Baghdadi, rallies fighters especially in Mosul, calling on them to obey orders while remaining resilient and steadfast. He urged others to carry out attacks in Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

The Islamic State group is fighting to hold Iraq's second city of Mosul as Iraq forces and allied Kurdish forces advance on the city with U.S.-led coalition support.